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“Our goal tonight was to keep him at 39” - Toronto Raptors coach jokes about containing Stephen Curry
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- “Our goal tonight was to keep him at 39” - Toronto Raptors coach jokes about containing Stephen Curry
There are only a handful of players in league history who are so good that coaches can walk away from a game feeling good about holding them down to 39 points. Michael Jordan is first on that list, followed by Kobe Bryant and perhaps Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander . A player who undoubtedly belongs in that conversation is Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry .
One coach who recently felt Curry's offensive genius is the Toronto Raptors ' head coach, Darko Rajakovic , whose team came away with a 141-127 win despite the Chef cooking for most of the game. After the game, the Serbian coach deadpanned how their game plan worked to perfection, holding Curry to just 39 points.
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Darko is taking this win
Since returning from a quad injury, Steph has been on a roll, averaging 29.8 points on 45.7 percent shooting over the last six games. This meant Darko and his team already knew the rhythm the Baby-Faced Assassin had heading to their late afternoon showdown on Sunday.
Curry certainly didn't disappoint, as he punctuated his evening by hitting a triple that many thought was the dagger as it gave the Warriors a 120-113 lead with under two minutes to go. However, the Raptors forced numerous turnovers and rebounded like crazy to pull off the come-from-behind win.
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After the game, Darko shared that in the NBA, there are just players who are so unstoppable that all you can do is roll with the punches.
"I saw a video the other day when Coach Pop was saying, like, what is the game plan for Luka, and he said to keep him under 50 and after the game Luka had 51," Darko shared . "So our goal tonight was to keep him at 39. So we did our job tonight. That was the goal."
Turning serious, the coach remarked that all they wanted to do was make Steph earn his points by giving him different looks. Given how Steph shot the ball 30 times, Darko said it was a good day for them.
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"I mean, it took a lot. You know, he ended up with 39 points, but he also took 30 shots," Darko added. "I thought that we made it hard on him. You know, he is an exceptional player."
An amazing team victory
While forward Scottie Barnes led the charge for the Raptors with his historic 20-20-10 triple-double in franchise history, Darko said his team came to the game looking to bounce back from their previous defeat to the Washington Wizards .
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The Raptors responded by having six different players score in double figures. Immanuel Quickley had 27 points while Brandon Ingram added 26. Ja'Kobe Walter also came up with 18 points and hit several crucial three-pointers down the stretch that doomed the Warriors.
"Amazing team win. Amazing grit from the whole group, and Scotty was leading that — leading with rebounding effort, leading with playmaking, leading with defense. He was really, really high level today. It was an impressive performance," Darko commented.
"Overall, I think that whole team came with a lot of energy. We were really motivated to bounce back after the Washington game, and we had an outstanding opponent against us. Some Hall of Famers and All-Stars on that team, amazing coach. So it was a great challenge, and I'm really happy that we came out with the win tonight," he continued.
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If a team can hold Curry to 39 points and still come out on top, that's an impressive achievement by any measure and Darko is hanging his hat on that effort.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
